Dec

In Defense Of: Taking a Night Off

It’s been a long couple of days in the mad pre-finals crunch. You deserve a break. Internet Enthusiast Elizabeth Self tells you why.

I see you over there.

Yes, you. Droopy-eyed, head propped up on arm, huge backpack on the floor and study guide open, though you’re scrolling slower than the snow on the Hamilton lawns is melting. Maybe one sentence, and you’re refreshing Tumblr / Buzzfeed / Bwog. Alternatively, you’re sipping coffee, staring down that essay, writing and writing and then back back back spacing over most of it.

You know who you are.

For you, I present a novel idea: Just stop.

Yeah, yeah, these exams are important, yes, your parents would be just so disappointed if your G.P.A. wasn’t just a teeny bit better this semester. And that test is probably tomorrow and you goofed off to much and now it’s time to get serious. You just have to push through …

Really, just stop.

For one thing, you know good and well that Red Bull is not the same as sleep. If you go into that exam tomorrow exhausted and brain-dead, you’re going to be worse off than if you don’t re-read those assignments.

For another, you’ve just got to give yourself a break sometimes. And I don’t mean a stand-up-to-get-a-cookie-at-the-study-break-and-then-eat-it-while-reading break. I mean close your laptop and all your books, take a walk, do something fun with a friend, call your mom, do whatever makes you happy, and then go the heck to sleep. In the morning you’ll be able to look at it with fresh eyes and probably get a lot more out of it in less time.

Now I, like many of us, like to kid myself by saying that I’m well-balanced. I’m not overwhelmed. I work on stuff a little everyday, right?

Yeah, I put off the ridiculous quantities of work I tell myself I’ll do in a day until about the time I should be going to bed, then torment myself trying to do it all in one go, desperately seeking mental relief on facebook or even Google doodles while kicking myself for lack of productivity.

What I, and a lot of us, really need to do is just let it go. Get some rest and maybe eat some real food, shower it off, forget about it for a wee bit.

Yes, shit needs to get done, and all of the shit will still be there tomorrow.